‘Protect yourselves with perimeter fencing’

In order to reduce the crime rate in estates within the Federal Capital Territory, Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Ogunbayode has called on residents to address the issue of perimeter fencing.

Ogunbayode gave the advice during an interactive session with the Abuja chapter of Nigerian Union of Journalists.

“The issue of perimeter fence must not be taken lightly. Most of these estates do not have perimeter fences. In most of the estates, you can count the ones with perimeter fences.

“We have a common task to fight crime. There is no city in the world that is crime-free.

“Abuja is about the safest place in the country. Everybody comes here. This increases the challenge because everybody has been displaced. But we have been able to sustain an acceptable level of security in the capital,” the FCT police chief said.

He noted that the presence of police officers in the capital city has helped in reducing the fears of residence in the capital.

“When you see a policeman, there is the re-assurance that you are safe. Indeed, you are safe because a criminal will not operate where there is a police officer. If there is to be any incident, we believe that the presence of that police officer will prevent it,” he said.

Ogunbayode acknowledged the challenges experienced by the command because of influx of persons to the capital. This, he said, has over-stretched the resources of the force in fighting crime.

He said: “The resources that we have are being over-stretched to a limit. We have little problem with undercover operations in daytime. We experience most of the challenges from 6:00 p.m. to about early hours of the day.

“This has placed additional burden on us because of the presence of additional persons in the capital. We are not relenting. We will continue to fight crimes in the FCT in order to maintain peace.”